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There are many ways to use Bluetooth devices with your iDevice (here shown on my iPhone).

First of all, there are two places to turn on Bluetooth. To turn it on in Control Center, swipe up from the bottom of your Homescreen and tap the Bluetooth symbol to turn it on (it will be white). To turn it off, tap it again. You can also access the Bluetooth settings from Settings > Bluetooth.

There are a lot of free weather apps, including the built-in one, so if you're going to download or even buy one, it has to offer something special. I downloaded the Weather : Universal Forecast (free) app, from Moveo and it does have some nice features.

If you've had the experience of getting a weak Wi-Fi signal in particular areas in your home because of the distance from the router or due to obstructions, a Wi-Fi repeater is the answer. And now you can buy an LED light bulb that doubles as a Wi-Fi repeater.

Do you have an idea for an app but lack the programming knowledge to begin building it? In this weekly blog series, How to Unleash Your Inner App Developer, I will take you, the non-programmer, step by step through the process of creating apps for the iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. Join me each week on this adventure, and you will experience how fun turning your ideas into reality can be! This is Part 11 of the series. If you're just getting started now, check out the beginning of the series here. (This post has been updated to Swift and iOS 8)

Now that you have some of the basics of Swift programming under your belt, it's time to dive into some deeper coding territory. To get the latest version of iAppsReview, select this link.

Sometimes while I’m browsing the Internet, I’ll run across an article I’d love to show my husband, or sometimes I’ll find one I want to read, but just don’t have time at the moment. With Apple’s Reading List, you can save any article from the web and go back and read it at any time. Here’s how:

Apple Pay is off to a good start, but it's not always apparent that a retailer accepts it. The other day, I asked if I could pay with Apple Pay at Staples, and they said yes. At my local Panera Bread, two of the three registers are set up to accept it, but one isn't. Apple is trying to address this by making Apple Pay decals available to retailers. There's no catchy phrase like "Follow Us" or "Check In" or even "Access Us," just "Pay" preceded by the Apple Logo. In a way it reminds me of the movie They Live and their subliminal signs like "SUBMIT" and "OBEY," except Apple's command is "PAY!"

Thanks to everyone who entered the March 23 iPhone Life Biweekly Giveaway! Every other week we give away three amazing prizes, so if you didn't win this time, make sure you enter the April 6 giveaway and tell your friends to enter too!

Audanika has developed several trippy music applications that turn your iPad or iPhone into a synth and MIDI powerhouse. The coolest part is that even without musical training or ability, you are still likely to be able to bang out a better than passable melody just by selecting a few random tiles in the app, and it's engrossing and fun to try! Read on to learn how the new SoundPrism Electro Mini ($2.99) brings more synth magic to your iPhone!

If you are looking for a quality pair of Bluetooth headphones that won't break the bank, the BackBeat PRO Headphones($249.99) may be the perfect fit. The BackBeat PRO is rich in features, and considering the build quality and specs that these headphones offer, they are definitely one of the better options within their price bracket.

If you want a smart watch, but can't wait for the Apple Watch, or don't want to spend $349 or more and still end up with a watch with one day of battery life, the Martian Watch Notifier has always been an attractive option. Today, however, it's available at a blow-out price. Instead of the normal $130, it's almost half off, at $69.99 from BestBuy.com. Martian Watches differ from traditional smart watches by offering an analog face and using a regular watch battery that can last for six months or more. They add a scrolling digital display that notifies you of incoming text messages, caller ID, etc. The guts that power the display capabilities do require charging every few days via USB, but you will always have the correct time. Most people won't even know you have a smart watch, until you start seeing your text messages on your screen!

A new biography of Apple founder Steve Jobs will go on sale Tuesday, March 24, and those who were closest to him are saying it's a much more accurate and nuanced picture of the man than the official biography by Walter Isaacson.

Bloatware is the term for undesired apps that fill up a brand new computer or device. PC makers have added bloatware for years because they would get compensated by software makers for doing so. As margins on PCs diminished, this became a valuable revenue stream. But it was relatively easy to delete unwanted programs or ignore them on a PC with hundreds of gigabytes of storage.

How would you feel if you had just gone out and bought a fancy new Apple product only to have it updated with a newer, better version within only a few month's time? We've kind of grown used to Apple product cycles where products aren't outdated for at least a year. If you think there's a chance that you'd feel at all slighted by spending hard-earned money on a device that's about to become outdated, you may want to consider holding off on purchasing the Apple TV.

Apple makes a distinction between battery life and battery lifespan. There are things you can do to make sure your battery has enough juice to last throughout the day. But Apple and others also give advice on how you can avoid damaging your battery so that it has a long lifespan. Every battery will degrade in performance over time, but following these tips will help you avoid damaging your battery.

This is the follow-up post to our first edition of the Indie Project corner, where we talk to indie product developers who are crowdfunding and implementing a new project related to iOS. In Part 1, we interviewed Gene Aikens of the Power Company on the early success involving his recent campaigns on Indiegogo. In this edition, we are following that up with a product review of his iPocket Drive.

The iPhone and iPad ushered in the Post-PC era; and when the App Store launched, it created a new economy. As an app developer, I've been able to ride that wave and it has been an incredible journey. If you would like to piggyback on the success of the iPhone, but aren't a programmer, there may be another way.

In a previous tip we looked at how to back up your iPhone or iPad to iCloud. But you can also back up to your computer. I like having a local backup in case my Internet connection is down. Also, some users would prefer not to have an iCloud account. Apple recommends having both an iCloud and a local backup.

I had the opportunity to try the Otterbox Defender and Symmetry Series ($39.95 - $59.95). OtterBox gave me a variety of cases to try, in assorted color combinations. They offer a dizzying array of choices and have come a long way since the old days of basic black cases with the rare yellow or white option.

This is the first Indie Project Corner post, a regular feature we will be undertaking to showcase noteworthy indie development efforts (mostly iPhone-related). It's not easy to get a crowdfunded product off the ground, as any who have done it will tell you, and iPhone Life wants to help by interviewing entrepreneurs and getting the skinny on what makes their products the best. In this first edition, we interview Gene Aikens of The Power Company, maker of the Smart Card, and the iPocket Drive. Gene sent us an early review sample of the iPocket Drive to check out. If you are looking for an alternative to network or cloud-connected storage, you will want an iPocket Drive! Gene shares some great insights in part one of this edition.